Anjali Smita* & Sunita Dutta
Department of Zoology, Women’s College, Ranchi-834001
Received 12th December, 2009; Revised 8th February, 2010
Abstract : Odonate larvae are important organisms in aquatic ecosystems but have been rarely studied in laboratory toxicity tests. Only a few previous studies have been conducted on odonates and their responses to heavy metal, especially lead. The present study tries to establish a correlation between the lead uptake and associated histological alteration in the odonate larvae with the variation in temperature and the subsequent changes in the respiratory tissues as revealed in the scanning electron micrographs. It was found that with increasing time there was increase in the accumulation of lead till it reached a threshold limit beyond which the dragon fly nymphs failed to survive. The absorption of lead inside the body of the nymph also led to the deformities in the tracheal tissue.
